Player Profile: Nicolas Claxton

Nicolas Claxton was drafted 31st overall a summer ago, leaving the Nets fanbase puzzled but filled with hope. Many wanted GM Sean Marks to take the 7’2 sharpshooting Bol Bol out of Oregon, who fell deeper and deeper as the draft progressed. Ultimately, perhaps because of Bol's injury red flags, Marks went with his gut and kept his eye on his target: Nicolas Claxton, an athletic center out of Georgia University.

Claxton's stint in college, ultimately reaching its closure at the end of his sophomore year, was in a word... tumultuous. After starting only five of the Bulldogs 32 games as a freshman, Claxton was catapulted into the spotlight for UGA. After the basketball program signed powerhouse coach Tom Crean to head the program, one of his many adjustments was promoting the lanky big man into the starting unit, permanently. Claxton started all 32 of the Bulldogs games that season and was a useful big man, playing a hybrid role of both power forward and center.

Nic saw the floor for 17 more minutes than his first collegiate season, landing him at an impressive 31 minutes per game, which lead his team by a wide margin. Naturally, his stats jumped up as a byproduct of his newfound role leading the offense. Claxton's points per game increased by 9, making his average 13. He rebounded at an impressive rate, grabbing 8.6 per game, and defended the rim efficiently, recording 2.5 rejections per contest.

A vacancy at point guard established an opening that led to some lead ball-handling duties falling upon Claxton’s shoulders. This change in play style was reflected in his per game statistics, where Claxton recorded 1.8 assists per game, but had his fair share of errors, averaging 2.1 turnovers. Playing a point-center role for a college sophomore is far from straightforward, but the unorthodox situation will him develop ball handling skills moving forward.

After a successful sophomore year where he was named to the All-SEC second team, Nicolas Claxton declared for the NBA draft. He started garnering lots of attention at the NBA Combine, where prospects are measured on their physical attributes. Claxton measured in at a height of 6 foot 11, with an impressive 7 foot 2 wingspan.

After getting some late first round buzz, Claxton was ultimately selected by the Brooklyn Nets, as the first pick in the second round. Let's review how the wiry center's rookie year has fared so far.

This season, Claxton spent the majority of his time playing for Brooklyn's G League team, the Long Island Nets. He performed admirably for the minor league club, posting per game stats of 16 points and 7 rebounds in only 23 minutes of action. Claxton was treated as a fringe rotation player this year, often traveling back and forth from Long Island and Brooklyn. In fact, he was assigned and recalled 6 times this year. This provides a reasonable indication of why his playing time was low for Long Island. He wasn't able to practice with them often, which mirrored his experience in Brooklyn.

However, he was still able to get two shorts stints of real playing time this season. The first came earlier in the year and encapsulated the month of November, where he got his first crack at the rotation in a road game in Portland, and filled the backup power forward role for the rest of the road trip, and then 3 more games later that month.

The second stint came when Brooklyn’s nominal backup - DeAndre Jordan - was hurt. It lasted about a week at the end of January, ending after a Sunday evening matchup at MSG against the Knicks on the 26th. Nic Claxton played really well - this time at center - averaging 9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in only 15 minutes of playing time. To compare, DeAndre Jordan has averaged 9 points and 10 rebounds this year in 22 minutes. For reasons unknown, Claxton hasn't seen the floor since.

Now, let's take a deep dive into what Claxton was able to provide for Brooklyn in his short rookie year; his strengths and weaknesses, if you will.

Rebounding

Starting out on a positive note, I can confidently say that rebounding shone through early on as Claxton's foremost strength. At a slight disposition because of his thin 215 pound frame while jostling with grown men down low, not only did he overcome this disadvantage, he went well beyond what was expected and was able to use his slim physique as an advantage by weaving around defenders in the paint. With the well spaced offense that Brooklyn runs, this was easy for him to do, as the painted area was often wide open for him to make a move toward the shot. He has a surprisingly good knack for timing his jumps, one aspect of rebounding many young big men struggle with.

On the offensive end, the Nets love to use Claxton in pick and roll, which means he's already naturally moving towards the basket and has the right kind of momentum to grab a board over a defender without being called for an over-the-back personal foul. Claxton's ability to tower over opponents is can be undoubtedly be at least partly chalked up to his 36 inch vertical jump and was the highest measured out of all centers entering the 2019 draft.

Finishing

To be frank, Claxton's finishing abilities came as a real surprise to me this year. He has a legitimate bag of tricks down low, which vary from simple pump fakes to crossover moves, up and unders, and just the ability to get hit, either go up once more or hit the shot through contact. He showed off that last move multiple times in the video above, being able to finish on Jonah Bolden and Brook Lopez, the latter of which has been a top level shot blocker and rim protector the past few years.

Claxton has also shown an ability to face up his man either in triple threat position or after being denied a handoff, by utilizing a series of jab steps and fakes.

Free Throw Shooting

Although Claxton has shown real promise as a jump-shooter - more on that later - his biggest weakness this year has consistently been his free throw shooting. His form is inconsistent, it varies in speed, and it sort of looks like he's just flinging the ball towards the rim, hoping that it drops through the net.

One good sign however, is most of his missed free throws are on the first attempt, and he'll usually make the ones on his second attempt. What this tells me is that Claxton needs to get in a shooting rhythm and be more comfortable, which should happen in the future, with an increase of playing time.

Three-Point Shooting

Claxton's shooting has not been substantial, as the sample size has been as small as can be, with him only taking 6 NBA threes this year. However, there is still real potential and reason for optimism. Although there are worries about his release, the issues fall under the time of release more so than anything else. And since he's a center, he will usually be substantially open when attempting the long ball.

In the G League, he shot over 50% from three, which is very impressive. Sure the sample size was small at only 18 total attempts, but making them at that high of a clip is a reason to be optimistic nonetheless.

Who is Nicolas Claxton, and what can he become? The answer is almost entirely still left up in the air, but his rookie year has given Nets fans an idea of how he plays, what to look for, and ample reason to get excited. Keep an eye out for the springy southpaw of the Peach State.